The following information comes from the British Dyslexia Association,
“Dyslexia is a neurological difference and can have a significant impact during education, in the workplace and in everyday life. As each person is unique, so is everyone’s experience of dyslexia. It can range from mild to severe, and it can co-occur with other specific learning difficulties. It usually runs in families and is a life-long condition.
It is important to remember that there are positives to thinking differently. Many dyslexic people show strengths in areas such as reasoning and in visual and creative fields.”
A child can only be diagnosed with dyslexia through a Diagnostic Assessment and these are usually only carried out from 7 years old. This is partly due to a large number of the signs of dyslexia being developmentally appropriate for most children up to the age of seven. A licensed educational psychologist, school psychologist, or specialist dyslexia teacher can diagnose dyslexia. The NHS website has some information for families wanting to look further into an assessment – NHS Dyslexia Diagnosis
Some of the signs of dyslexia can be an appropriate part of learning and development for all of the children in our school. As such, a lot of our teaching strategies already reflect the reasonable adjustments and best practice for children with dyslexia. Below is a list of some of the things that we do in every classroom and then there is a list of the things that we might do for children who are still facing some challenges in their learning.
All classrooms across school offer the following
- Repeat instructions/information and check for understanding of tasks
- Use visual timetables with symbols
- Label resources with words and images to support children to be able to independently access
- Use peer support for reading and recording some tasks
- Use multi-sensory ways of teaching
- Allow time to respond as many dyslexic children are slower to process information
- Break information and instructions into smaller ‘chunks’
Classroom staff may also use the following
- Offer alternatives to writing as a key method of recording
- Provide handouts that contain the key learning points rather than asking pupils to copy text from the whiteboard or take notes
- Alter format options onscreen or on an interactive whiteboard
- Pre-teaching of some key information or skills to give children more time to process before applying in a class context
The British Dyslexia Association has information and advice and further links for families wanting to know more about dyslexia and links to information about other associated conditions and the link can be found below.
As a school, we pride ourselves on the open communication that we have with our families and would always encourage parents and carers to come and talk to the class teacher in the first instance, or our SENDCo, about any concerns or for a conversation about your child’s needs.